


If You Die, Walk It Off

by geekalogian



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-23
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-31 22:06:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3994648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekalogian/pseuds/geekalogian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Killian discovers his favorite Avenger during movie night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Die, Walk It Off

**Author's Note:**

> Knowledge of the MCU is probably required to properly enjoy/weep over this little drabble.

They’re curled up on the couch together, Henry perched on the coffee table with an overflowing bowl of caramel corn. Killian insists on learning precisely what this “Net flicks” is all about, and Henry wants to catch up on all of the Marvel movies they missed while they were busy saving the town from various and sundry evils. Killian’s hand is wrapped around Emma’s stomach, and she leans into his chest, seated comfortably between his legs, every now and then letting out a low hum of contentment as she presses closer to him. He dips his head forward and presses the occasional soft kiss into the crown of her head, breathing deeply the scent of her hair. It’s been a month since the Dark One was driven over the town line. For just a short time, everything is perfect.

Henry had done his best to explain the entire premise of each superhero to Killian, but he’s still having trouble remembering names and details. But he can’t help but develop an affinity for this Rogers fellow, frozen in time for decades and devoting himself to honor and fighting corruption even among those who claim to be good. Emma chuckles whenever he mentions it, citing it as further proof that he truly is a hero now (”He’s the biggest goody two-shoes of the entire Avengers squad, Killian. No villain would ever pick Cap as a favorite”). He’s not so sure. But he’s quite eager to watch the story.

Emma notices it first when he grips her tight the first time Steve says goodbye to Bucky–the younger, less experienced friend bidding farewell to such a close friend who is headed off to war. She gazes up at him, and he returns her concerned expression with a half smile. She kisses him on the cheek and they resume viewing. He gives her a knowing smile whenever Peggy Carter is on the screen, murmuring things like “quite a tough lass, isn’t she?” into her hair. Emma can’t help but grin.

But later, when Bucky vanishes into the snowy ravine, Killian’s arm tenses again. She glances up again, and this time he is too transfixed to notice. His eyes are glued to the screen as Steve tries to get drunk to forget his troubles, vows revenge on the vile organization that cost him his best friend.

His arm stays tensed, an iron bar against her stomach, until the credits roll.

When Steve wakes up, surrounded by a world that is not his own, and says “I had a date,” Killian unconsciously presses his cheek against her head, and somehow Emma just knows his eyes are closed.

_(in a few weeks, she’d remember this moment when he whispered “Don’t you know, Emma? It’s you.”)_

“Play the next one, lad,” Killian tries to sound easygoing, but there is a note of urgency in his voice that Henry immediately picks up on.

The Avengers sees Killian far more easygoing, laughing at Stark and his wisecracks and all of the banter. He seems especially fond of Thor’s antiquated speech pattern. But his eyes always shine brightest, Emma notes, when Captain America is on the screen. He barks out a laugh when Steve is mystified by electricity, when he is thrilled to get the ‘flying monkeys’ reference (he laughs especially hard then–maybe because he gets that reference too). He remarks about Steve’s motorcycle, asking Emma if it would be possible to procure one. She responds with an eye roll and a sigh, nuzzling into his shoulder.

The next evening, when it’s time to pick a new movie, Killian scratches the back of his ear. “Is there, perhaps, another one featuring the Captain? Rogers, was it?”

Emma and Henry stifle their laughs, but Emma can’t shake the sweetly sad feeling in the pit of her stomach because he _resonates_ so deeply with such pain and loss. They pull up the Winter Soldier.

Emma’s not sure whether she regrets it or not, but Killian makes her heart ache for the next two hours.

Oh sure, there are laughs–she nudges him whenever Natasha makes an offhanded comment about Steve’s age, and the Captain himself is full of the kind of sarcastic quips that bring a smile to her pirate’s face. But there’s also a scene early on with Peggy, withered and weary with age, and he holds her so tight that she can’t help but wonder if he’s worried about losing her, too.

(If only she knew then. _If only_ )

And then the Winter Soldier’s identity is revealed, and Emma can’t bear the idea of what must be going through Killian’s head, how he must be thinking of Liam, how so much has been torn from him, how he would do anything to help his own brother if there was even the slightest chance of bringing him back.

When Steve says “I’m with you to the end of the line,” Emma swears she hears Killian breathe “To the ends of the earth, brother,” and she just leans her head against him and hopes that he knows, he must know, she’d do the same for him, too.

Movie night gets a little less intense once they’ve worked through all the Marvel movies, but Killian still maintains a vested interest in “Captain Rogers.” He borrows a comic or four from Henry. Henry is MORE than happy to oblige.

The week before it all goes to pieces at the town line, Henry gives Killian a little keychain–Cap’s shield. “Since you like him so much–maybe it’ll help you remember the kind of hero you really are.”

And then … .

And then darkness. After everything, they missed their dance again.

Killian stands numbly in the diner, hand clutching the dagger that bears his beloved’s name. Nobody argued, not once, about who would hold it. Not even David. He glances over at the royal couple, who are perched at the counter, books and scrolls and parchment spread wide as they gather information and make plans with all the precision of the leaders of a great army. At a nearby table is Regina, a grimoire open, hand clenching and unclenching whenever someone mentions her rescue–as though she would purge the darkness by fire if that was what it took to rescue the Savior, her son’s mother, her friend. Robin had to go retrieve Roland, but promised the aid of the Merry Men as soon as some answers were found.

The diner door swings wide, and Belle enters with another armload of books from the library. For all that she has caused, for everything she’s forgiven that he can’t even imagine, Killian knows Belle will stop at nothing to help. The previous dark one is comatose, there is no need to pine over his broken body. She is ready to work, and for now, that is enough.

And there, in the booth right beside him, is the new Author himself. Henry has a pen in hand, a multitude of the blank books stacked beside him, and the key tucked safely in his pocket. He is ready to write the story of his mother’s rescue. He meets Killian’s eyes, and gives him a somber nod.

Killian shifts, and is suddenly made aware of something in his pocket. Something circular. And it all comes back to him–laughter and warmth and the scent of Emma’s hair mingled with Henry’s caramel corn. And something else, too.

He surveys the room again, and sees something he hadn’t before. He sees a group of heroes. He sees a family gained after so much loss. He sees a group trained towards the sole purpose of defeating darkness, of saving the Savior, of reuniting him with his lost love.

And something like humor, something like hope, spreads warm through a heart grown cold with despair. He utters a word, just a word, loud enough only for Henry to hear. It brings a grin to the lad’s face, it lights a fire in Killian’s heart, it gives him the strength to step forward and be the hero he truly is and needs to be.

_“Assemble.”_


End file.
